OXCCU, a leading carbon-to-value company, has launched its first official demonstration plant, OX1, at Oxford Airport.

The OX1 plant represents a significant advancement in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production. Through its novel catalyst and reactor design, the subject of over a decade of research at the University of Oxford, the plant will convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) directly to long-chain hydrocarbons with high conversion and selectivity for use as SAF, named OX•EFUEL.

This FOAK facility, based at London Oxford Airport and designed and operated by OXCCU, will produce 1 kg (~1.2 litres) of liquid fuel per day and will start operations in September 2024.

The plant will be the world’s first demonstration of the direct conversion of CO2 and H2 to jet fuel range hydrocarbons in a single step with minimal oxygenated byproducts using OXCCU’s novel catalyst.

The plant is part of OXCCU’s strategic scale up journey as the first OXCCU plant out of the lab.

It will provide the data key to the design, build and operations of the 160 kg (200 litres) per day OX2 plant, previously announced, which will operate at Saltend Chemical Park Hull in 2026. Commercial plants supplying the UK and elsewhere with PtL SAF will then follow.

Unlike other firms working on Power-to-Liquid (PtL) fuels, OXCCU has reduced a traditionally multi-step process to a single step, avoiding the need to first convert CO2 to CO – a difficult to electrify and energy intensive first step. This innovative approach is key to reducing the cost of PtL SAF, which is currently the main barrier to PtL SAF adoption.